Fuel element, in particular for grilling and smoking food

ABSTRACT

A fuel element for grilling or smoking comprises a refractory casing enclosing the fuel, which retains the fuel and combustion residues thereof but is sufficiently permeable to allow the air necessary for the combustion of the fuel to pass therethrough.

United States Patent Orsing [54] FUEL ELEMENT, IN PARTICULAR FOR GRILLING AND SMOKING FOOD [72] Inventor: John Harry Orsing, Avangsgatan 2, Raa,

Sweden [22] Filed: Feb. 13, 1969 [21] Appl. No.: 799,030

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 1, 1968 Sweden ..14830/68 [52] US. Cl ..44/40, 44/16, 99/229 [51] Int. Cl ..C 101 11/00, A23b 1/04 [58] Field of Search ..44/40, 16, l, 41; 38; 99/22, 99/9 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,916,365 12/1959 7 Smith ..44/41 1 Mar. 28, 1972 2,967,023 1/1961 Huckabee 44/40 X 3,124,432 3/1964 Gentry ..44/40 3,347,148 10/1967 Williams... ....99/229 3,454,377 7/1969 Renwick ..44/40 Primary Examiner-Daniel E. Wyman Assistant Examiner-C. F. Dees Attorney.lanes & Chapman [5 7] ABSTRACT 7 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures Patented March 28, 1972 3,651,596

FUEL ELEMENT, IN PARTICULAR FOR GRILLING AND SMOKING FOOD The present invention relates to a fuel element, in particular for grilling and smoking, and aims at producing a fuel element of that kind which is easier to handle and use than ordinary crushed charcoal, which is the most common fuel used in outdoor grills and open hearths. The fuel element according to the invention is also easier to use than wood cuttings or sawdust, which are used for smoking food and makes the grilling or smoking simpler and more comfortable than crushed charcoal or other kinds of fuel.

For this purpose the invention provides a fuel element of the kind described above which ischaracterized in that a fuel quantity is enclosed in a housing in the nature of apackage to be discarded after use and consisting essentially of refractory material and being sufficiently tight to retain the fuel quantity before, during and after combustion as well as combustion residues, if any, enclosed in the casing, at the same time as it is sufficiently permeable to air to permit air to enter the fuel quantity in a volume necessary for its combustion.

An embodiment of such a fuel element will be described in greater detail in the following with reference to the accompanying drawing, where FIG. 1 shows a plan view of the fuel element with the casing v wall partly broken away, and

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the fuel element.

The fuel element according to the invention comprises a tubular, in cross section almost oval casing which is flattened and sealed in each of its ends so as to form a fin 11 there. In

the casing there is enclosed a quantity of fuel l2 which may consist of pieces of varying sizes, in such a way that the casing is rather well filled. The casing at the same time serves as a package for the fuel and is meant to be discarded after use. It must be of such kind that it is air-permeable to a sufficient degree to permit the air which is required for burning the fuel to pass through the casing, at the same time as it must be sufficiently tight in order to retain fine fuel particles or finegrained combustion residues inside the casing. A suitable material for the casing is unwoven felted fiberglass held together by means of a bonding agent containing starch, said material being available on the market (fiberglass felting). Other materials, such as fine-mesh metal netting or fiberglass fabric may also be used but would hardly be used to any considerable extent because of their relatively high price.

In a fuel element for grilling, the fuel 12 may consist of crushed charcoal and into the charcoal there may be mixed a fragrant material, e.g., juniper twigs. It is also possible to press the charcoal into a briquet in a conventional manner and to enclose the said briquet in the casing.

The fuel element described having charcoal filling may be used as a heat radiation element for grilling meat, fish etc., in outdoor grills or on the open hearth. The fuel element may in that case be used in a horizontal position and is ignited by means of a conventional igniting liquid. Due to the fact that the fuel element is arranged in combination with a reflector it may be located beside or above the food to be grilled, which gives certain advantages. As a matter of fact it is thereby possible to avoid grease dripping down onto the fuel element from the food to be grilled and being ignited when coming into contact with the fuel element, whereby the grilling may be done without disturbing smoke. The ignition of grease which has dripped onto the food should also be avoided because the burning grease will coat the grilled food with soot, which is not only unappetizing but also unhealthy according to certain research results as it is considered to give rise to cancer. Even if the fuel element is placed beneath the food to be grilled the risk of such soot formation as a result of the combustion of grease dripping down is insignificant when using a fuel element according to the invention since the drops of grease will become distributed on the casing and will evaporate quickly without being ignited.

The fuel element according to the invention may also be used as a smoke cartridge for hot or cold smoking of food, in

which case the fuel 12 may consist of wood cuttings (sawdust or chippings) of a suitable wood quality, or of any other fuel generating smoke at combustion. When the fuel 12 generating smoke is being burnt, the casing 10 will form a soot and ash filter so that soot and ash particles will not adhere to the smoked food and make it unappetizing. When using the fuel element according to the invention as a smoke cartridge it is consequently possible to simpler smoke furnaces than those now in use, since the furnace does not have to contain a special hearth; the fuel element may be placed in a horizontal position or may be suspended with simple means in the same room where the food is to be smoked. The casing forms a controlling factor with respect to the combustion of the smokegenerating material since among other things the thickness of the fuel element determines the heat development at the combustion and, together with the length of the fuel element, infiuences the combustion time of the fuel element (heat generation and combustion time will of course also become dependent on the draft in the furnace). The fuel element may contain a fuel quantity l2 carefully composed for certain kinds of smoking and its size may be adapted to different furnace sizes.

The use of the fuel element may be facilitated by incorporating into the fuel element an ignitor which may be enclosed at one end of the casing 10 in the portion located between the tin 11 at that end and the dash-and-dot line 13. In a fuel element for use as a smoke cartridge the ignitor may consist of e.g., paper or chippings. A pyrotechnical ignitor may also be used and does not, of course, have to be provided at one end of the fuel element but may extend as a string over the whole length of the fuel element or be mixed with the fuel. it is possible to provide a plurality of fuel elements in a grill, open hearth or furnace in such a way that they will be ignited one after the other, whereby it is possible to obtain almost any desired combustion time by using smaller fuel elements which are easy to handle.

Even if the fuel element described will probably be used as a grill element or smoke cartridge in the first place it also makes it possible to use for instance charcoal as fuel for heating tents and other similar spaces, or it can be used as a heating element in an oven for field use and for camping in a considerably simpler and cleaner manner than has been possible so far. When using the fuel element as a heating element in tents and similar spaces the fuel element may preferably be used in a suspended state and be allowed to burn from one end. in an oven the element may be used in a horizontal position just as when used for grilling or smoking, and it is then possible to put a plurality of fuel elements together in a suitable pattern in order to obtain an even distribution of the heat over a certain area.

What I claim is:

1, A fuel element for cooking and/or smoke flavoring food comprising a porous noncombustible glass fiber casing; and a combustible fuel in solid form enclosed within the casing; the fiberglass casing having pores in sufficient number and size to permit the entry of the volume of air necessary to support combustion of the fuel, while retaining therewithin the fuel and substantially all of the combustion residue therefrom.

2. A fuel element in accordance with claim 1, in which the glass fiber casing is an unwoven felt bonded by a starch-containing bonding agent.

3. A fuel element in accordance with claim 1, in which the casing is a woven glass fiber fabric.

4. A fuel element in accordance with claim 1, in which the fuel is charcoal.

5. A fuel element in accordance with claim 4, comprising in addition wood chips for generating smoke during combustion to produce a smoked flavor in the food.

6. A fuel element in accordance with claim 1, in which the fuel comprises wood chips for generating smoke during combustion to produce a smoked flavor in the food.

' 7. A fuel element for cooking and/or smoke flavoring food comprising a porous noncombustible glass fiber casing, a starch-containing bonding agent holding the glass fiber material together, and a combustible fuel in solid form enclosed within the glass fiber casing, the casing having pores in sufficient number and size permitting the entry of the volume of air necessary to support combustion of the fuel, while retaining therewithin the fuel and substantially all of the com- 5 bustion residue therefrom. 

2. A fuel element in accordance with claim 1, in which the glass fiber casing is an unwoven felt bonded by a starch-containing bonding agent.
 3. A fuel element in accordance with claim 1, in which the casing is a woven glass fiber fabric.
 4. A fuel element in accordance with claim 1, in which the fuel is charcoal.
 5. A fuel element in accordance with claim 4, comprising in addition wood chips for generating smoke during combustion to produce a smoked flavor in the food.
 6. A fuel element in accordance with claim 1, in which the fuel comprises wood chips for generating smoke during combustion to produce a smoked flavor in the food.
 7. A fuel element for cooking and/or smoke flavoring food comprising a porous noncombustible glass fiber casing, a starch-containing bonding agent holding the glass fiber material together, and a combustible fuel in solid form enclosed within the glass fiber casing, the casing having pores in sufficient number and size permitting the entry of the volume of air necessary to support combustion of the fuel, while retaining therewithin the fuel and substantially all of the combustion residue therefrom. 